What Is SWOT Analysis? (Part 2)

Now that you understand the basics of SWOT and how it works, let's explore the Strengths and Opportunities sections of the chart. This is where you find out what's working and how you can do more of it. You can now begin to take a proactive approach to improving your business with confidence and facts.

Identifying Your Strengths

Start by pinpointing your strengths. These are the parts of your business, services, or operations that are going well. What brings people back? What do you offer that's better or different from everything else? Where do you feel most at ease?

Look at these categories:

• Customer comments: What do customers continually compliment?

• Performance indicators: What are your top-performing products or services?

• Team strengths: Who on your team is consistently succeeding?

• Special skills: Do you have something others don't?

• Market reputation: Is everybody talking positively about your business?

Strengths are not about being perfect, rather, they are about identifying where you're already succeeding.

Asking the Right Questions

If you're unsure of what the strengths of your company are, ask yourself some of the following questions:

• What do customers most thank us for?

• What do we do faster, better, or differently from anyone else?

• Where do we get good outcomes consistently?

• What's something we can depend on going well because historically, it always has?

An example of a good strength is, "80% of new customers come from word-of-mouth." This strength is specific and measurable.

If you're not sure, you can also ask past customers or employees. You could be too close to your business to do it correctly. Fresh eyes may help you confirm what you're business is doing correctly.

Strengths Are Only Useful If You Use Them

Finding strengths is only half the challenge. Once you have found them, ask yourself:

• Are we leaning into these?

• Are we marketing these strengths?

• Are we cultivating and growing them?

For example, a bakery might discover that morning traffic is one of its fundamental strengths. But if they're only selling the fundamentals in the morning and keeping the best for later, they're not leveraging that strength.

Finding Hidden Strengths

You might also find strengths not immediately obvious. They are sometimes called "hidden strengths" because they won't show up until you think about what makes your business or brand special. Maybe you have reliable long-term staff, or maybe your delivery process is more sophisticated than anyone else's; those are your strengths.

Think about the small things customers won't necessarily voice. Maybe your invoicing is faster and easier than clients have gotten elsewhere. Maybe your follow-up is more organized, more polished, or more thoughtful. These operational strengths may not be instantly apparent, but they're real differentiators.

Finding Opportunities

Now for the subject of opportunities. These are avenues for progress, improvement, or advancement. Opportunities are usually outside chances that you can respond to. It's simple to overlook these if you're busy with day-to-day activities. However, by stepping back to pay attention, you can identify paths of momentum that your business may need.

Think about:

• Market trends: What is growing or changing in your market?

• Customer behavior: Are people asking for something that you don't yet offer?

• Competitor gaps: Where are they dropping the ball?

• Technology shifts: Are there tools or platforms you’re not using yet?

• Local developments: Is your area seeing new construction, events, or investments?

• Regulation changes: Are there legal or regulatory changes that might open doors?

Opportunities are not strengths. Strengths are what your business has internally. Opportunities are what you can gain externally. They could also be new markets, new ways of reaching markets.

Examples of Opportunities

Suppose you have a dog grooming company. You've got many customers asking about mobile service. That's an opportunity.

Or, you're a little neighborhood shop, and a big chain moved out of the area. That could mean more traffic to your business and fewer stores like yours. That's an opportunity.

Or, you find out that there's a local event going on that fits your brand. That's an opportunity to get involved with your community and get some visibility.

If your company is service-based, you might see competitors trailing behind in email replies, or they don't follow up. That gives you an opening to win over disgruntled customers with better communication.

You can also look at broader cultural trends. Are people more concerned with wellness, greenness, or shopping small? Those shifts provide new ways of positioning your offerings.

Matching Strengths to Opportunities from Your SWOT Analysis

This is where the magic happens. You've got your strengths. You've got your opportunities. Now you can match them.

Does your strength make you a better candidate to go after this opportunity?

Can you stretch or broaden a strength using an opportunity?

Let's go back to the bakery. You've got your high morning traffic (strength). There's a new gym down the street that just became available. There's potential for healthy, high-protein breakfast options. Your strength complements the opportunity.

Or perhaps you have a strong reputation in green products, and there is a new local mandate now encouraging sustainability. That's a chance to establish the tone and acquire customers who want more sustainable products.

This matching process helps with clarity. If an opportunity and a strength go together, you have a clearer path to harness more success for your business.

Example: Matching and Acting

You have a small landscaping company. Your strength is rapid turnaround on quotes. That's not common in your market, as most wait days to respond.

You notice new residential developments being constructed in the neighborhood. Those new homebuyers will need landscapes. You opt to promote a "48-Hour Quote Guarantee" and beat out the competition.

This is a way that strengths and opportunities meet. It's not reimagining your whole brand. It's seeing what you already do well, and placing it in a position where you can make the most of it.

Avoiding Pitfalls: Finding Strengths and Opportunities

Not everything is a strength, and not every trend is an opportunity.

Avoid these pitfalls:

• Being too vague: "Good service" or "increased sales" aren't helpful. Specificity is important.

• Pursuing shiny objects: Trends are not automatically best for you.

• Overlooking timing: Some opportunities are not feasible right now. That's fine.

• Forgetting alignment: Make sure the opportunity aligns with your brand, purpose, and bandwidth.

• Assuming strengths are fixed: Check in on them from time to time. Strengths can shift.

Always think about what fits your situation currently. It’s about doing the right things at the right time.

How to Keep These Insights Alive

Once you’ve identified your strengths and opportunities, don’t just tuck them away in a file. Use them.

• Feature your strengths in marketing messages.

• Focus your efforts around one or two strong opportunities.

• Update your list quarterly to see what’s changed.

Make decisions with your strengths and opportunities in mind, such as what to invest, what to save, and what to promote.

You can also utilize your SWOT findings to educate your staff so everyone is aligned.

You might even pin your list to the wall or leave it on your desk. Review it when you are stuck or overwhelmed.

Keep in mind that strengths and opportunities shift as well. New competitors emerge. Customers change their minds. Something that succeeds now might not succeed a year from now. Re-check periodically and update your SWOT analysis.

Gaining Confidence and Clarity

Once you know what you're skilled at and where you can improve, you can begin to act intentionally because you have a system to fall back on.

You're not following others at this point. You're choosing what to do next because it works, not because someone else is doing it. You also don't have to do what is popular, because you can just focus on what works for your business.

A SWOT analysis isn't magic, but it is powerful. You’ve now explored how to find and use your strengths and how to spot opportunities that support growth.

In Part 3, you will learn about Weaknesses and Threats. This might feel a little uncomfortable, but it's just as important to do. If you want SEO digital marketing to be one of your strengths, get an SEO health check to see where your business stands.